HAPPY Endings

We’re always delighted when our dogs and cats find new homes and love to hear how they are getting on. If you have a Happy Ending story please submit it online via the Happy Endings section. Here we share some of the uplifting updates received so far.

We hope that reading about the joy rehomed animals can bring will inspire more people to welcome a HAART animal into their life and generate yet more happy endings.

Winny

We became Paw-rents to Winny (Aka Astrid) last year when she was just 8 weeks old. Winny was rescued from a remote community where she was found mal-nourished, tick-ridden and had developed an extreme fear/distrust of all people to the extent where she would self-soil when approached. When we first brought Winny home there were lots of issues , Winny would run away when approached , would wet herself when you picked her up and would not be hand-fed anything.

Fast forward 6 months and Winny is a shadow of her former self. She loves taking naps with her brother George , being cuddled, snuggling up to mum in bed (even though she weighs 20kgs now!) is great at fetch and most commands and will do anything for a treat even if it’s her brother’s! With a lot of hard work and encouragement Winny has started to learn people are a source of excitement and not fear. Winny has gone from running away to running into the arms of her mum and dad and now even allows pats and cuddles from strangers at the park! We are still working on strangers in confined spaces but can see her impulse shifting from avoidance to curiosity every day.

Like most rescues, despite her experiences Winny is the most affectionate, cheeky and intelligent dog and has not let her start in life dull her spark! People that meet Winny never fail to fall in love with her and her bravery has led her to become a chatty little member of our pack! Thanks again to HAART for not only giving Winny the happily fur-ever after she deserves but also letting us be the ones to give it to her. We cannot imagine life without her!

Winny’s mum, Carly.

Captain

HAART was alerted by Monica (SABBR) to an impounded old and sick dog who was due to be euthanised. We were told that he had cancer and needed palliative care. We just knew we had to get him out so he could feel the softness of a nice warm bed and the love of a family before his time came to cross the Rainbow Bridge. We jumped into action and arranged his ‘jail break’ with Monica’s help and got him into a foster home that night. We named him Captain.

When we met Captain he looked like he had already given up on life. It was truly heartbreaking. At that moment we thought this would be his last weekend so we vowed to make it amazing. However, after a trip to the vet the following day and some pain relief medication Captain had regained his love for life and wasn’t ready to go just yet!

Since being on pain relief medication Captain has gained over 3kg’s, he is playing with his much younger doggie girlfriend like a puppy again and he is smiling the biggest and brightest smile you could ever imagine. His foster carer has nicknamed him Captain Benjamin Button.

Captain has been on many new adventures and is being quite spoiled – just like he should be. He’s been hand fed roast chicken, pampered at a dog day spa, went on a date to a dog friendly café, fell in-love with a much younger doggie, and gets to sleep on a comfy couch every night. What more could an old dog ask for?!

We don’t know the circumstances that led to Captain being impounded. We really don’t care. It is more important for us to show him the love he deserves for whatever time he has left. Thank you Captain for the love you have also given us in return xx

Edna

Hi Haarties. Some of you know Edna, our scaredy, untouchable cat who came into our care via the pound in 2014. She dropped us a surprise litter early in 2015.

What some of you may not know is Edna has Cryptococcus Neoformans and has had a Staphylococcus infection as well – which was untreatable as she tested MRSP (non reacting to antibiotics, same as human MRSA).

I don’t think I have posted her story on the Carers page and wanted to show some of our new Carers just what being a no-kill rescue really means.

I have been asked many times, “she’s a feral, is she worth it?” My answer – YES she most certainly is.

In August 2015 Chloe was visiting and noticed Edna on the dining room chair, with a swollen face.

I took her to the vet and it was decided she needed surgery for an abscess.

Surgery performed two days later – no abscess, just 3cms of thickened skin. She had ‘lesions’ down her back. (I believed she had been bitten by a spider).

To cut a very long story short, Edna had multiple vet trips with multiple steroid injections, which we think bottomed out her immune system. The cryptococcus took over. We got a referral to Murdoch dermatology and a diagnosis and treatment plan were made. She visits Murdoch every week for treatment. She has been downgraded from aggressive to fearful there and the Vets and vet nurses treat her with the utmost respect.

Treatment is working. It is expensive. She is worth it.

Snap

Snap

We adopted Snap about 6months ago in June this year. After meeting her at foster mum Shell’s house we just couldn’t resist her affectionate and inquisitive personality.
She was supposedly the quiet one in the litter but she definitely rules the household and has to be where all the action is, always meeting us with a meow at the front door when we get home.

We can’t imagine life without her, especially my 1yr old daughter who’s besotted with her so much her first word was cat!

Ash (formerly Patches)

Ash (formerly Patches)

My partner Tristan and I were not even looking for a dog. One night while having a few wines at a friends house I was browsing Pet Rescue, just to have a look at the animals up for adoption cause they’re so cute, when I came across an extremely sad looking dog called Patches aka Sad Baby. Well.. Our desire to not have a dog in our lives changed that night!
I contacted HAART who put us on to Sad Baby’s amazing foster carer Jess. Within a day or two I visited Jess’ house to meet this sad looking dog.

The dog i met was underweight, smelly, had a horrific skin problem and due to her past experience of being a puppy machine for her previous ‘owners’ had nipples which were almost dragging across the floor. But she was definitely getting happier since being liberated from her past life. I fell in love straight away and my partner trusted my judgement. After contacting HAART and sorting out all the finer details we were able to take Patches home!

We decided to do away with her slave name Patches and call her Ash. We chose this name because it’s my favourite character from a series of movies. Anyone seen Evil Dead? Haha. We also figured that from ash comes new life, and that’s what we wanted to give this baby.

Ash was quick to become a happy dog. The first time we took her to the beach she did not know what to do with herself as she was filled with happiness and excitement!! It was amazing to share Ash’s experience of feeling true freedom for the first time.. An amazing day that I will always remember.

We have had countless visits to the vets for Ash’s skin problems.. We have managed to eliminate her allergies which has definitely helped, but she still suffers from demodex mange.. A condition where mites are able to over take her body as her immune system is not strong enough to fight the bugs off. The vet has even told us we have lost the battle with her skin.

We have found giving Ash fresh meat and veggies (no biscuits or canned food ever for this girl!) helps to manage it but when she is in times of stress it can flair up terribly, so keeping her happy and feeding her good food is definitely the way to manage it!

As you can see from her photo she is a happy happy dog.. She will never be a sad baby again.